Hey all,

Played a USQ chess hustler last night and got my clocks cleaned. Anyone have a sense for just how good these guys are? Non-blitz game btw.

I think it varies greatly from hustler to hustler. I played in Washington Square Park in NYC 7 or 8 years ago, before I really started to study chess. I was probably 1500 USCF at the time and hadn't really played much blitz before. I fared decently well against the hustlers, probably scoring better than 50%. A couple were really good (to me at the time, at least), and some were not very good.

I also played one time in Union Square in San Francisco and the guy there was a pretty average player. Again, this was when I was probably 1500 or so and the guy and I traded wins, probably scoring around 50% again.

The main thing I noticed is they played unorthodox openings that were very tactical. If I could get them into quiet positions and survive their sacrifices, I usually did well. But if they got into their kind of game, it was tough sledding.

I'd love to be able to go play them again now, it would be a blast.

I played in Washington Square park a few years back. I'm about 2200 and I was easily beating all the hustlers at 5-min Blitz. I even felt a bit guilty about playing them for money.

I've heard there are some good players who go there, but the players there when I went were maybe 1700-1800 at best.